Twilight In New Jersey

Squish Squish Squish.

Oh, hey there. Sorry for that odd noise. It’s just that after nearly five straight days of rain, my Merrell’s here can’t seem to dry out. It’s ok. I like having toes like raisns.

Listen, I’m all for rainy days. I actually enjoy a nice rainy day. Think it goes back to my high school and college days in Northeast Pennsylvania. I did landscaping to earn a few bucks. And there were a lot of hot, dry, dusty days doing that swing. The relief would come in the form of a drizzily, rainy morning. Too wet to cut lawns (probably clog the lawn mowers and be a general mess) but maybe the sun might peak out. If my boss called the day off completely, I’d sleep in. Forfeit a few bucks after 10 days straight of 7 to 7 days. A rainy day = Heaven. Or, if he asked if I’d wanted to go out just in case – he’d pay me – then we climb in this old van we called the Blue Bomber, mowers and gear in the back. We skirt around our clients, see if the rain would lessen or come harder. Most likely, we’d end up in a diner reading the paper, eating an omlette and multiple cups of coffee before calling it a day. Still, when you’re 17, not a bad way to earn a couple of bucks.

But geez…it’s been raining here in the Great State of New Jersey since about Saturday afternoon. It’s getting old, even to me. Feels like I’ve been dropped into the movie Twilight or something.

You DO know about Twilight, right? The teen-angst story set in the soddy local of Forks, Washington. About a too-cool modern vampire (Edward) and the human gal he loves (Bella.) Romance and heart-ache ensue.

[As an aside – when did high school kids become so cool? The “kids” in this movie are cooler than the other side of the pillow. But I’ve even seen how cool teenagers are in real life now. Back on January 1, when I shot the Polar Bear Plunge in Asbury Park, the musical entertainment was a young cat named Quincy Mumford. Part Dave Matthews, part Jack Johnsonn, this young lion is 100% cool, much cooler than I ever was at that age, or am now actually. Already, this dude has headlined at The Stone Pony. That, my friends, is pretty darn cool. Keep an eye on that name. When I was that age, I was just trying to pass Doc McKewon’s Global History tests…]

Anyway, the Mrs. and I rented Twilight on Saturday night. She’s been entralled by the books and I had no problem killing a couple of hours. Honestly, I enjoyed it [Two good movies in a row. First The Wrestler and now Twilight. I shudder.]. Decent enough story and shot beautifully (watch it in hi-def). Of course, because of the vampire aspect, it couldn’t be set in, like, Mexico. Too much sun and brightness. It needed an overcast, gray, cloudy wet location and the Olympic Penninsula was that. I enjoyed the lushness of the scenery, the vivid greens, and the dripping fronds of the ferns.

If they had waited until this week, they could have shot it here in the Garden State. Rain, rain, drizzle and more rain everywhere. I know some people out there in the Pac Northwest dig this, but even for rainy-day me, this is a bit much. Primarily, I’m tired of wiping down the paws of my dogs after every walk.

However, the one thing I did notice was how so much of the landscape was just popping against the gray sky. On the road too and from work, it’s just jumping out at you. It’s like spring is beating it’s chest against the weather. I just had to capture some of it.

Larger.

A low-angle shot here. Trying to frame these trees against the stone background. ISO 100, f/4.5 at 26mm, -2 EV. Finished in Nik Silver. Maybe a little to dark-ish.

The oft-done canopy shot but the trees are really starting to come into their own. f5.6, ISO 100, 17mm, -5.3EV

Larger.

Larger.
The one I had to go back to get. Shot this yesterday, didn’t like it for whatever reason when I viewed it on the Dell XPS, went back and shot it again today. The rare time that the light really didn’t change, even a day later. I just enjoy the pop of the green against the curve of the train bridge, a stone bridge that was build in 1903.

Even as I write this, the rain is coming down straight as razors. Boucing off the roof of my porch. My two pups are huddled underneath me. Not happy with this. Guess we just have to ride it out….

Or build an ark.

© Mark V. Krajnak 2009 | JerseyStyle Photography | All rights Reserved
Unless otherwise noted, images captured with a Canon 20D, SanDisk digital film, finished with PS2 and Nik Software

Tags: Beautiful Light, Canon 20D, Canon Photography, green, Nature, Quincy Mumford, rain, Twilight

• May 7, 2009
• Beautiful Light, Canon Photography, Conceptual, Movies, Nature, New Jersey
• 6 Comments